If we take a look at my logbook now, you’ll see that I’ve flown more hours than the average French pilot—all without ever being in France. How is that possible?

An Idea From China

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It all started with an invitation I received in Shanghai—a wedding invitation. My friends invited me to attend their wedding… In France.

If you’ve read my previous articles, you’ll know I’ve flown to many parts of France—just never to the northeast. It’s a long way from where I usually fly, but the wedding is in Strasbourg! What better excuse to finally make the trip?

How long has it been since I’ve flown—really flown? I’m not counting those short hops. One whole year! My last proper cross-country flight was to the south of France, with the return trip taking me through the east—Annecy, Lyon… what a route.

A wedding in August—in Strasbourg? Hmm… I hadn’t planned on flying back to France this summer. In fact, I’d intended to spend my vacation exploring more of China. I ended up only visiting Taiwan and Hong Kong, though I’ve also been eyeing South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines. But hey, a wedding doesn’t happen every year. So, of course, my answer was « YES. »

We can imagine to make that easy, like the most part of the international guests invited: landing in Paris, taking a direct train from Paris to Strasbourg and that all. BUT, 1 year I haven’t flown. And I like to make it complicated.

I decided to take a train to Angoulême, where my flying club is based, and then fly on to Strasbourg. The original plan? To surprise my friends with a “just married” flight. But two weeks before the big day, I scrapped that idea—for two main reasons:

I’d just handed in my resignation, so come September, no more income! Plus, the wedding schedule was packed—adding an extra surprise flight would have been a logistical nightmare for them.

1. I’d just handed in my resignation, so come September, no more income!
2. Plus, the wedding schedule was packed—adding an extra surprise flight would have been a logistical nightmare for them.

So, the plan is set: I’ll fly myself to Strasbourg for the wedding. It won’t be cheap, but I’ll try to offset the cost by taking a few passengers along for the ride.

Either way, I was committed—I’d already booked the plane two months in advance.

1.5 month before the D-Day

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Flying solo for three and a half hours? Not exactly my idea of fun. Luckily, my brother and sister-in-law are also attending the wedding. While they’re spending a few days in Paris before heading to Strasbourg, they’ll be joining me for the return trip to Angoulême. At least I won’t be flying back alone!

We’re all traveling from overseas for this special event. Maybe some of the guests would even be up for a detour to Angoulême and flying on to Strasbourg with me—cost-sharing makes sense, especially when my next paycheck is still up in the air. (At the time I was planning this, my future income was a bit of a mystery.) My job? Oh, don’t worry—I always have a backup plan.

Like all of us from Asia, we rely on WeChat for everything. For this event, we had a dedicated group to coordinate and chat. To find potential passengers, I designed a poster introducing the idea and shared it in the group. To boost my chances of finding at least one friend to make the flight more enjoyable, I also posted on Facebook. One small catch, though: I had seats available for the outbound flight, but no space for the return trip 😅.

A « weight » story

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“Singapore” you said?!

In aviation, weight is THE enemy! Every aircraft has a specific load capacity, which depends on factors like the engine and wing design—put simply.

Remember, I mentioned my brother and sister-in-law are flying back with me? They’re coming all the way from Singapore to Paris for a couple of weeks. Needless to say, they won’t be traveling light—they’ll have big, heavy suitcases.

10 planes, Only 2 Suitable

Two questions:

Does my plane have enough space for all their luggage?

And will we stay within the weight limits?

We have 10 planes to choose from, so we can immediately rule out any two-seaters. Easy!

Now we’re down to four planes. Out of those, only two have enough space for large luggage. And let’s be honest—I’m not getting any younger! For a 3.5-hour flight, I’d rather have something comfortable. Priorities, right? haha

Luckily, these criteria align perfectly with the « enough space » requirement. In the end, I went with the Cessna F172—it has plenty of room, sufficient weight capacity, a 6-hour range, and is nearly IFR-certified with full options, including autopilot. The only downside? It’s slow!

Fuel or package

I tried to convince my brother and sister-in-law that they didn’t really need their luggage. After all, fuel is more important than clothes and gifts, right? They could just leave their bags at the airport—maybe even make some money selling them! Win-win, no? 😉

The image above shows the weight and balance chart for the plane I’ll be using. This document serves two critical purposes:

1. Total Weight Check: Ensures we’re under the maximum allowable weight.
2. Balance Verification: Confirms the weight distribution is within safe limits.

For example:

• If the cross falls left or right of the blue lines, the balance is off, and the plane won’t fly properly.
• If the cross is above the top blue line, we’re overweight—the engine and airframe aren’t designed to handle that load.

In either case, flying outside these limits is dangerous. Safety first!

As you can see in the screenshot, we’re 15 kg overweight, but the balance is within limits.

About a month and a half ago, my brother was already stressing about the luggage. The big question: Would we have to leave their bags behind? That was the question.

The Fuel Calculation To reach Strasbourg, we need fuel for 4.5 hours. With a cruising consumption of 32 L/hour (the conservative estimate), that’s 144 liters of fuel. In reality, the plane burns less at higher altitudes or when flying at an economical speed.

The Choice What would you do in my position? Would you tell my brother: « Safety first—we’ll have to leave some luggage behind if we’re over the limit » Or would you look for another solution?

“YES, WE DO.”

Did I go crazy? Not quite! Instead of leaving luggage behind, I asked the mechanic to swap the engine for a more powerful one. I could have asked to change the wings too—but let’s be real, finding the right wings is a nightmare. Upgrading the engine was the practical choice.

The Simple Fix Actually, I just adjusted the fuel load. 15 kg over equals about 22 liters—less than an hour of flight time. By reducing the fuel to 170 liters, we’re back within limits and still have 5 hours and 18 minutes of fuel. Problem solved! ✈️

Final Twist: When they arrived in France, they gave me the actual weight of their luggage—and guess what? 5 kg lighter than expected! That means we can add 5 kg more fuel to the tank. Bonus safety margin—yes, please! 😊.

Luggage Weight: Check! The weight issue is solved—yes! But now there’s just one little problem left: Will it all fit?The volume might still be a challenge! 🧳✈️

A Space Problem

The weight is sorted, but now we’re facing a size issue—will all those bags actually fit in the plane? 😅

We’ve got to fit my passengers’ luggage, my own bags, and all the plane’s essential gear into the Cessna. Let’s hope everything plays Tetris nicely! 🧳

How can we do that?

I had a wild idea to free up space: remove a door! And guess what? It comes with a few perks:

• Since it’s the hottest day of the year, we’ll get a built-in AC—fresh air for everyone!
• Every gram counts! Removing the door shaves off a bit of weight—small gain, but every bit helps!
• We’ll make room for the luggage—some of it might stick out a bit, but hey, it’ll fit! Problem solved.
• No door means no window glare—perfect for stunning, reflection-free photos mid-flight!

One Small Catch: Leaving the plane at the airfield with a missing door meant we had to keep it empty—no sneaky critters or surprises moving in!

A booking story

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Two weeks ago, as I prepared to fly to France, I checked my flying account balance. Flight clubs work like a bank: you deposit money into a virtual account, and each flight deducts from it. I just wanted to see how much I’d need to top up afterward to keep my balance at zero.

And then—disaster struck. My plane wasn’t even booked. Cue panic.

I called the secretary right away to figure out what went wrong. Turns out, I’d missed ticking a tiny confirmation box, and the plane had already been booked for a few hours—blocking my reservation. But the real kicker? By the time I noticed, other pilots had snatched up the plane for the exact dates I needed. Talk about bad timing!

Luckily, pilots stick together. I called the first one who’d booked the plane during my window—turns out, it was for an event. Fingers crossed for a miracle!

« I’ll do my best to work something out, » he said.

« I can give you a definite answer by the Sunday before—once registrations close. It all depends on how many people sign up. »

In the end, he made it happen—I got the plane! A huge thank you to him (you know who you are!) for going the extra mile, even though it meant more logistics hassle. Pilot solidarity for the win!

Almost There

The biggest hurdle was cleared. Now, just two more pilots to coordinate with.

The first was easy: a single discovery flight organized by the club. The secretary assured me it could be rearranged, so I held off calling the pilot until I had confirmation from the most critical booking (the event). Turns out, he postponed his flight on his own. Huge thanks to him!

One to Go The last pilot had booked the plane for the entire Friday. After several Skype calls, I decided to handle it from France. If postponing wasn’t an option, I’d just take off early Saturday morning—still making it to the wedding in time. That’s the beauty of flying!

To be continued…

Ah, I miss it all—the camaraderie, the laughter over meals at the airfield restaurant, swapping stories with the hum of engines in the background, and the thrill of plotting new adventures together. Nothing beats the pilot life!